On July 7, 1937, the outbreak of the "Lugou Bridge Incident" marked the beginning of Japan's all-out war of aggression against China, and at this critical moment, the Kuomintang and the Communists quickly reached a cooperation agreement, and the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was reorganized into the National Revolutionary Army. Due to China's weak strength in Hebei, the Pingjin area quickly fell, and at the end of September 1937, the Japanese army had entered shandong along the Jinpu Railway, and by the beginning of 1938, the "Battle of Xuzhou" ended the fall of all parts of Shandong.
In the months between the end of 1937 and the beginning of 1938, the people of Shandong launched more than a dozen armed uprisings and formed dozens of anti-Japanese armed forces, which were reorganized into the Shandong Column at the end of 1938 and were subordinate to the Eighth Route Army. The Shandong Column, together with the regular units of the Eighth Route Army that later entered Shandong, dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army, and by the time of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Area had become one of the largest anti-Japanese base areas in the country, but in fact, the Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Area was only the east part of Shandong Jinpu Road, and the west of Jinpu Road was the Anti-Japanese Base Area of Jiluyu.
In May 1944, The Ji'nan and Jiluyu military regions, which originally belonged to Jinjiyu, merged with The new Jiluyu Military Region, and in August 1945, Ji'nan and Jiluyu were separated to form the new Jiluyu Military Region, and in August 1945, Ji'nan and Jiluyu were separated to become part of the newly established Jinji-Luyu Military Region. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, in order to defend the achievements of the victory against Japan, the main forces of the four military regions of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region, Taihang, Taiyue, Ji'nan, and Jiluyu were organized into columns, of which the troops of the Jiluyu Military Region were organized into the first column, and the first column had three brigades and cavalry regiments, with Yang Dezhi as the commander, Su Zhenhua as the political commissar, Zeng Siyu, deputy commander, Zhang Guohua, deputy political commissar, and Lu Shaowu as chief of staff.
A native of Zhuzhou, Hunan, Yang Dezhi joined the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in 1928, participated in the Long March, and served as the commander of the Second Red Division. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yang Dezhi served as the commander of the 685th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and in 1938 he served as the acting brigade commander of the 344th Brigade, leading his troops across the Taihang Mountains into the Jiluyu District to form the Jiluyu Detachment.
After the formation of the first column of the Jin-Ji Luyu Military Region, Yang Dezhi served as commander, led the first column north to the northeast in November of the same year, and then stayed in the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region due to changes in the situation, successively serving as the first column of the Second Field Army of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region and the first column of the Jin-Cha-Ji Field Army, and in October 1946, the third brigade of the column was abolished, and the troops were organized into the first and second brigades, and in November the first column went south to return to the Jin-Ji Luyu Military Region, but General Yang Dezhi remained in the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and Su Zhenhua concurrently served as commander and political commissar.
After the first column moved north, the Jiluyu Military Region formed a seventh column with three brigades and cavalry regiments under its jurisdiction, with Yang Yong as commander, political commissar Zhang Linzhi, and deputy commander Zhao Jimei. In March 1947, the 1st Column and the 7th Column were merged into a new 1st Column, the original 21st Brigade of the 7th Column was abolished, and the subordinate units were organized into the 19th Brigade and the 20th Brigade, and the 1st Column had four brigades under the jurisdiction of the 1st, 2nd, 19th and 20th Brigades, with Yang Yong and Political Commissar Su Zhenhua as commanders.
A native of Liuyang, Hunan, Yang Yong joined the Red Army in 1930 and participated in the Long March, serving as the political commissar of the Red First Division and the Red Fourth Division. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yang Yong served as the deputy commander of the 686th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and later served as the regimental commander and political commissar, and in early 1939 he led the troops to enter Shandong with the 115th Division's Eastward Detachment, and served as the commander of the independent brigade of the 115th Division, the commander of the 343rd Brigade, the commander of the Third Brigade, the commander of the Luxi Military Region, and the deputy commander of the Jiluyu Military Region. After the establishment of the Seventh Column in November 1945, Yang Yong served as the commander, and after the establishment of the new First Column, he served as the commander. In 1955, Yang Dezhi, Su Zhenhua and Yang Yong were all awarded the rank of general.